When I turned 16 years old, my dad strongly urged me to find a part-time job. This was also happening to most of my buddies. The problem was that none of us wanted to work. …
January 8, 2025
Articles by Jerry Olivas
What you did in 1960s San Diego to get a starter job
A fraught ride on a freight train, Kansas City to Chicago
I was surprised there weren’t more passengers on the truck trailer car, because I had seen plenty of people around the freight yard. Maybe they were headed west instead of east, or perhaps north or …
July 3, 2024
A fraught ride on a freight train, San Diego to Kansas City
One morning, after surfing at Imperial Beach, my friends and I were hanging out and bragging about one thing or another. Someone shared a story they had heard about how easy it was to catch …
June 26, 2024
Reader writer explains how he broke out of TJ's La Mesa prison
A powerful blow to the side of my head sent me sprawling on the sidewalk. Then a strong hand seized the back of my pants and lifted me up from the sidewalk. About that time, …
January 31, 2024
Sloop in distress heading for San Diego
They were just the sort of charter passengers we liked: out-of-town landlubbers who paid in advance and didn’t ask questions. We planned to take them to Islas Todos Santos, two uninhabited islands off the coast …
September 13, 2023